Cloud computing will remain a focus area in Malaysia’s ICT roadmap in the next couple of years.

This statement was made by Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of Multimedia Development Corporation (MDEC) during his opening address at the MSC Malaysia Cloud Conference held early this week.

“Its benefits in delivering economies of scale, shared computing platforms, more cost effective investment into infrastructure and greater human resources efficiencies, are things we can no longer ignore,” he said.

Ghazali told the local media that MDEC recognises the value and potential of cloud computing in the improvement of core business processes; as such they are working aggressively with various ICT industry players and stakeholders to drive cloud adoption.

The MSC Malaysia Cloud Initiative (MMCI), for example, focuses on stepping up the development of Malaysia’s cloud ecosystem. According to Ghazali, the programme enabled MSC Malaysia Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to deploy cloud software and services as a utility, while catalysing demand by local enterprises for “Made in Malaysia” cloud software and services.

“There are more than 100 ISVs approved under the MMCI, contributing close to RM16.1mil in revenue as of 2012. With more ISVs coming on board in 2013, we expect this number to reach RM20mil by year-end,” he added.